


coffin nails and digging your own grave

by pastaBreaker



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alcohol, Clubbing, F/F, Manicures & Pedicures, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:02:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29937297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastaBreaker/pseuds/pastaBreaker
Summary: Kotori wants a distraction. Cathy just wants her to figure it out.
Relationships: Cathy/Mizuki Kotori
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	coffin nails and digging your own grave

In the hazy lights of the club, at their tiny table, Cathy carefully tugs at the fingers of her gloves. The fake stick-on nails at the ends of the fingers shine blue instead of pink in the strobes, and when she rolls the glove down her arm, revealing pale skin inch by inch, she smiles.

“Can’t get my gloves wet,” she says over the music.

Kotori’s already tipsy, a couple of drinks in and feeling warm as she forgets what she was so worried about. She smiles back as she sways to some trap beat that pounds through the walls. “Makes sense.”

The last time she saw Cathy without her gloves was back in high school, when uniforms were still a thing and they banned her from wearing gloves. Back when she used to chew her nails, when wearing them helped stop the compulsion. So when her fingers are finally free from the black silk trappings, Kotori blinks.

Her nails are manicured and long, filed in a coffin shape and painted a glossy black, save for her middle and ring fingers that are cut down and rounded. The skin around them is smooth, without a single hangnail or bit of chapped skin. They look amazing, she thinks as Cathy tucks her gloves into her tiny heart-shaped purse and wraps her palms around the can of beer, condensation coming off on her skin.

“You stopped biting?”

Cathy pops the tab on the can and takes a sip. “Yeah. Crazy, right? I thought that’d never end.”

She puts it back down on the paper coaster, hands coming to rest on the table, and Kotori can’t help but slide her hand under hers and lift it up gently. “Pretty manicure.”

Cathy smirks at her. “You think?”

“Did you break these two?”

“No.”

“Oh, okay,” Kotori says, absently running her thumb against the black nail polish. It’s been a while since she’s had a professional manicure, and currently her soft pink nails are chipped and weeks old. “Where’d you go?”

“For what?” Cathy tilts her head slightly, regarding her.

“For the manicure.”

“There’s this boutique by the boardwalk. We should go sometime.”

Kotori nods slowly. “So, they’re short on purpose?” she asks, setting Cathy’s hand back against the lacquered table.

“Yeah.”

“Like, a nail trend?”

Cathy’s smile turns teasing. “For a certain subsection of the population, I guess.”

A subsection, huh? Racking her dulled brain, with a couple drinks in her system, Kotori tries to remember if she’s seen anyone with nails like these before. Sometimes Akari, maybe, but she always cuts her index and middle fingers down. Kotori vaguely remembers a time she and Yuuma were watching a movie and Akari had rushed around trying to find the nail clipper before a date. Curious, Kotori thinks as she picks her drink back up and takes a long sip, trying to shake off the thought of Yuuma pressed against her side that night.

“You should slow down, Kotori.” Cathy’s pretty manicured hand takes the drink from her lips and sets it back down. It’s nearly half empty now. “You’re not gonna last the night the way you’re drinking.”

“Mmm… maybe I don’t want to.”

“I’m not dragging you home again.”

Kotori giggles. “Okay. I won’t get  _ that _ drunk,” she says, sliding closer to Cathy in the booth. “But, we did come here to get wasted.”

“Of course  _ you _ did.”

“You know, Akari has nails like that.”

Watching Cathy’s eyes go wide is nice. Her white lashes are saturated in black mascara that makes them longer on the edges, her eyeliner in its usual cat-eye shape that accentuates how sharp her eyes are. “Akari?”

“Yeah! Akari. But,” Kotori picks up her hand again, pointing to Cathy’s ring finger, “it’s not this one,” she says, tapping her index finger, “it’s this one.” She grins, leaning in closer. “Are you part of a secret club?”

“Uh--”

“Is it like, a tell?”

“Sure.”

“For what?”

Cathy pushes Kotori back against her forehead with her other hand. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“Why else would I be asking?”

She rolls her eyes with a smile. “For someone so smart, you sure are slow.”

“Akari cut them before a date,” Kotori adds.

“Really.”

“Really!”

Cathy brings her hands up, cool fingers warm against Kotori’s cheeks as she squishes them together. Kotori giggles again. “Tell me, little birdie, why do you think you would cut your nails before a date?”

“Because they broke.”

“But why would you only cut two?”

“Because those two broke?”

“And why wouldn’t you cut all of them, just those specific two?”

“Maybe I’m late!”

Cathy sighs. “You’re so slow, Kotori.”

“You’re really pretty.”

Under the dimmed strobe lights, Kotori can still see the flush appear across Cathy’s cheeks. “Ugh, you’re  _ so _ ,” Cathy mumbles, pressing their foreheads together before letting go entirely. “Never mind. You won’t get it while you’re like this.”

“Like what?”

“You’re drunk.”

Kotori boops her nose. “You’re not! Come on, finish your drink so we can get you another one.”

Cathy glances at her drink, her barely-touched can of beer, and shrugs. “Let’s dance, birdie,” she says, sliding out of the booth and holding out a hand to her.

As Kotori grasps it, Cathy’s cool touch against her skin, she thinks that there’s no one else she’d rather be out with while she tries to forget about Yuuma.

**Author's Note:**

> happy international women's day <3 decided to write an oblivious sapphic who's still figuring it out in front of a sapphic who might be in too deep.


End file.
